A First Nations Framework for Emergency Planning: A Community-Based Response to the Health and Social Effects from a Flood

• Published in: International Journal of Indigenous Health
• Main Authors: Montesanti, Stephanie, Thurston, Wilfreda E, Turner, David, Medicine Traveler, Reynold
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Waakebiness-Bryce Institute for Indigenous Health 2019
• Subjects: First Nations
• Online Access: https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijih/article/view/31952; https://doi.org/10.32799/ijih.v14i1.31952

In June 2013, a severe flooding of the Bow and Elbow Rivers affected southern Alberta, a province in Canada.The flood was subsequently described to be the costliest natural disaster in Canadian history. Among the hardest hit communities was the Siksika First Nation, located on the Bow River banks about 100 kilometers east of the city of Calgary.A community-university partnership was formed to document the Siksika First Nation community-based response to the health and social effects to their community from the flood. Our qualitative case study sought to: (1) document Siksika First Nation’s response to the health and social impacts resulting from flood in their community; and (2)develop a culturally appropriate framework for disaster and emergency planning in First Nations communities. The Siksika’s work to mitigate the impact of the flood followed a holistic or socio-ecological model that took the determinants of population health into consideration.